* Live, Laugh, Love *: Things Learned From Wedding Planning

I am going to toot my own horn here and say that for never planning a wedding before (mine was obviously my first wedding), I did a pretty good job at getting a cohesive wedding theme put together. I've also never really been involved in a wedding planning process either since I was the first out of my sisters to have a big wedding. So I must say that for only spending 8 months planning a wedding, I did a pretty good job. TOOT TOOT!

I did, however, mess up some stuff, require assistance from professionals, and cry to mommy a few times.

So here are my lessons learned. There aren't MANY lessons, seeing as how I am pretty awesome and know a lot about everything.

Things WILL go wrong at the wedding. Period. End of story.
Wear long-lasting lipstick. No matter how convinced you are that you'll keep applying lip gloss, you won't. You're lying to yourself.
Nobody will care about your wedding as much as you do
Don't leave men in charge of getting your overnight bag to the hotel room
Take the time to get a picture of just you and your husband on the wedding day. This seems obvious...but some of us forget :/
Always plan to take longer getting ready than you should
Hire a day of coordinator, even if your venue provides one. These sweet little messengers from God are not overrated
Don't stress if your unity candle blows out. Lighting it twice just means the marriage will be twice as strong
Don't forget the ring bearer pillow
Your bridesmaids are NOT your slaves. Let them have fun getting dolled up. Their main priority is to look pretty and keep you from running away. That's it. YOU chose to have a huge wedding, the responsibilities are mainly yours (and your mom's...duh)
Make lists of everything. Even the most A-type personalities will forget little details on the wedding day. Give the list to everyone around you, even your dogs, so that nothing gets overlooked.
Don't open your mouth wider than necessary to put cake in it. There will be pictures capturing your depth perception being off
Remember a camera is always on you
The two times you will have the most pictures taken are cake cutting and first kiss, don't make stupid faces
If you have a poofy dress, wear an adult diaper or go to the bathroom 457,596,204 times before the ceremony begins so you don't have to go find someone to help you during the reception
Set a STRICT budget! Or take your budget, divide it in two, and say that's your budget so when you go over, you still have enough money to pay for it
Think of your favorite time of year or holiday. Now DON'T plan your wedding around that day
Put aside all ideas that your new husband helping you take off your wedding gown in the hotel room will be romantic. In reality, you will be sticky, sweaty, and probably get stuck in the dress. Oh, and it WILL ruin your hair
Your marriage will last longer than Kim Kardashian's
Have fun. It is not easier "said than done", it is actually easy to do. The day of your wedding is about getting married. All the planning is done. Don't be a cranky bride.